Triplets hit the big 1-0 on 10/10/10

Kim Palaferri / The Press TribuneThree 10s is a perfect score for triplets Emily, Nicole and Megan Taketa, who turn 10 on Sunday, 10/10/10. The girls love soccer,softball and videogames.

Ever since triplets Emily, Megan and Nicole Taketa were born in 2000, their family have been looking forward to a birthday that has finally come around. The three sisters are turning 10 years old on a triple-10 date: 10/10/10.
“When I went in to deliver them, something clicked,” their mom, Jennifer Taketa, said. “Someone said, ‘Hey, they’re going to be 10 on 10/10/10!’”
The Taketas will ring in the new decade with a pool party, where for party favors they’ll give out jelly bean-shaped tin containers with the honorees’ names and a message: “10 on 10/10/10!”
It’s a throwback to the day the girls were born. Their dad, Art, gave out pink jelly beans with the announcement, “It’s a girl!” Actually, he wrote over the packaging, “It’s three girls!”
They’ve known one or two people with Oct. 10 birthdays, though few can boast the same coincidence in 2010.
And because the triplets were born in 2000, each year they turn the age that matches the year (for example, 5 in 2005, 6 in 2006).
“They said, ‘We’ll always know how old we are,’” Jennifer Taketa said.
Megan said she’s looking forward to growing up.
“I’ll be able to do more stuff,” she said, “like get a cell phone.”
She is something of a tomboy among the trio, though all of the sisters love sports. Nicole is the youngest, the quietest and the most girlish of the bunch. And Jennifer Taketa described Emily, the oldest, as “a real goofball.”
“I act the maturest,” Emily said. “Sometimes Megan and Nicole are having tickle fights and I’m never interested in that.”
Jennifer Taketa is expecting her children’s maturity with a bittersweet combination of pride and nostalgia. She is already wondering about the next decade.
“We’ll have to think of something special for 20,” she said.
~ Lien Hoang